Telecommunications systems, cable television systems and data communication networks use optical networks to rapidly convey large amounts of information between remote points. In an optical network, information is conveyed in the form of optical signals through optical fibers. Optical fibers comprise thin strands of glass capable of communicating the signals over long distances with very low loss of signal strength.
In recent years, the use of telecommunication services has increased dramatically. As the demand for telecommunication services continue to grow, various topologies of optical networks are emerging. For example, ring network topologies are evolving into mesh network topologies. Ring network topologies have several inefficiencies, such as information having to travel through each intermediate node before reaching the destination node and the fallibility of the entire ring network if there are multiple failures. Mesh network topologies provide several benefits over a ring network. While the network topology can be improved, existing optical node architectures are not efficient and effective in the testing and measurement of mesh network topologies (e.g., testing and measurement of latency, optical power, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion, optical-signal-to-noise ratio, etc.). For example, conventional optical node architectures are not scalable to support testing and measurement of the increased connectivity of optical nodes in mesh network topologies.